ATHEX: Banks bring fresh growth to the bourse

Stocks soared on Tuesday at Athinon Avenue, with traders shifting most of their attention to banks, which saw their index jump by almost 6% driven by the huge interest in the public offering of National Bank. There is clearly a great audience for bank stocks abroad, which will be more interested in the local credit system’s stakes now that the country has regained investment grade – a factor that the state is also taking advantage of in selling its stakes in Greek lenders now.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,235.27 points, adding 2.47% to Monday’s 1,205.55 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 2.87%, ending up at 3,007.34 points.

The banks index gained 5.94%, as Piraeus grew 7.07%, Alpha fetched 6.02%, National augmented 5.80% and Eurobank collected 5.37%. Motor Oil jumped 4.74%, Quest Holdings grabbed 4.58% and Viohalco rose 4.27%.

In total 83 stocks posted gains, 21 took losses and 14 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 124.2 million euros, down from Monday’s €399.6 million.

In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 0.49% to close at 126.97 points.